Posted on October 4, 2016
By Syful Islam, The Financial Express
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked for immediate steps to resolve the problems that are responsible for under-utilisation of the Mongla seaport capacity, officials said.
For the facelift, the ministry of shipping (MoS) has been handed a 10-point directive.
The PMO move to elevate the seaport to its potential capacity came following a request from Khulna Chamber of Commerce and Industry in view of developments in the offing, they added.
Prime Minister’s economic adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman in a recent letter to shipping minister Shajahan Khan conveyed the message. He mentioned that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had approved the list of dos.
A major quantum of capacity of the country’s second seaport remained unused for years, while Chittagong port heaves under overload.
In fiscal year 2015-16 the second seaport handled some six million tonnes of goods against its 13-million-tonne capacity. At the same time it handled nearly 43,000 TEUs (twenty-foot-equivalent units) of containerised goods against handling capacity of 0.25 million TEUs.
The directives include continuous dredging of Mongla-Ghasiakhali channel and keeping Shela river inside Sundarbans open for ships to ply until the channel becomes ready for the plying of all types of vessels.
Regular dredging of Pashur river, emergency dredging of Mongla-Nowapara river route for ensuring adequate navigability, and arranging adequate number of navigation equipment are also in the recipe.
Besides, the MoS has been told to set up depot for fuel oil, establish a power plant and water-treatment plant, and arrange high-capacity floating crane for the port for the fresh takeoff.
The PMO also asked the ministry to make mandatory 100 per cent import of fertiliser for agricultural use and raw materials for factories located in Khulna, Rajshahi and Barisal divisions through the Mongla port.
It also asked for providing transit facility to India, Nepal, and Bhutan through the use of the Mongla port.
Besides, the directives also include arranging adequate numbers of crane and conveyor belts for quick delivery of goods in different jetties, and arranging necessary pontoon and gangway for Roosevelt jetty in Khulna district.
The government high-ups also asked for forming an inter-ministerial body led by senior secretary of the ministry of commerce to implement the directives. The committee has to submit a report on the overall matter by November 30.
Chairman of Mongla Port Authority (MPA) Riazuddin Ahmed acknowledged the massive underuse of port capacity and recently told the FE that, on average, only one or two ships stay in the port regularly. Most of the anchorage points also remain unoccupied.
He said the port has been raising its capacity by implementing various development activities, and in next two to three years the capacity will increase significantly.
To this effect, he said, a mega project of Tk 20 billion has been taken up. They expect modernisation and expansion of facilities at Mongla port under this project.
The MPA chairman, however, eyes a big leap in containerised cargo handling at the port by 2018 when vehicles will start plying across the Padma multipurpose bridge now under construction.
Source: The Financial Express
